Thursday, January 29, 2009

Chapter 47: My study book for Genesis says that after the reunion, Joseph escorted his father's caravan to Pharaoh and presented his brothers and father to Egypt's ruler. In keeping with Pharaoh's suggestion, Joseph then provided land and food for the Hebrew immigrants. Joseph himself, continued in his government position, saving lives while at the same time enriching Pharaoh.Chapter 48: Jacob (Joseph's father) blesses Manasseh and Ephraim. It was custom that the oldest son got double the inheritance as the younger son. In this case Jacob blesses both of Joseph's sons but gives the superior blessing to Ephraim, the younger son of Joseph.Chapter 49: At the age of 147 years old Jacob dies. VERSE 33: When Jacob had finished giving instructions to his sons, he drew his feet up into the bed, breathed his last and was gathered to his people.Chapter 50: Joseph has to reassure his brothers that they should not fear him. VERSES 19-20: Joseph said (to his brothers), "Don't be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for the good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.VERSES 26: Joseph died at the age of a hundred and ten. And after they embalmed him, he was placed in a coffin in Egypt.

That ends my study of Genesis. I hope you will continue to spend time daily in the Word of God. I am already reading through Exodus and plan to just put in special verses throughout my study that are very convicting, encouraging, or very profound and fitting to me in this seaon of my life. It may not be something I post each day as I have been......that actually is very labor intensive for me to read it all then write on it also......

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

CHAPTER 42: Joseph's earlier dream of his brothers bowing down to him comes true. Joseph brother's (except Benjamin) come to Egypt to buy some grain, because they had no food because of the famine in the land. Joseph is harsh with them calling them "spies". He tells them to return home and bring back their youngest brother and then he will know that they are telling the truth about their family.

CHAPTER 43-46: Now the brothers all return and Joseph ends up telling his brothers who he is. He then invites them to come live with their father in a region near him. Jacob and 70 others return to Egypt. VERSE 29: Joseph had his chariot made ready and went to Goshen to meet his father Israel. As soon as Joseph appeared before him, he threw his arms around his father and wept for a long time.

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Chapter 39 : Talks about Potiphar's (who was Joseph's master) wife pursuing Joseph. She tried day after day to get him to go to bed with her, and each day he refused. One day she grapped a hold of him by the cloak and tried to persuade Joseph again and he took off running away from her leaving his cloak behind in her hand. Then Potiphar's wife accused Joseph of "trying to make sport of her" and then Joseph's master burned with anger and sent Joseph to prison.

Chapter 40: While in prison Joseph was clearly seen as a righteous man because he was again put in charge. While there he came into contact with two men who also had worked for the Pharaoh. They each had a dream one night and wanted someone to interpret them. VERSE 8 (second part) Joseph said to them "Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell me your dreams.Each of them did and Joesph told them what they meant, but he told the cupbearer when he had been restored in the palace to remember him. He did not he forgot, and Joseph remained in prison.

Chapter 41: Now in this chapter 2 years had passed when the Pharaoh had a dream and no could interpret it...he has tired many times to find someone. Now the cupbearer remembers Joseph and tells the Pharaoh what had happened to him in prison and how what Joseph said had happened exactly how he had said it would. Joseph explains the meaning of Pharaoh's dream ......7 good years of plenty followed by 7 years of extreme famine. So the Pharaoh put Joseph in charge of all of Egypt, the only person with more power than Joseph, was the Pharaoh himself. So Joseph was to prepare the people for the 7 bad years by storing up food during the 7 good years, and Joseph did just that.

Someone had a Birthday in our family....So last Tuesday we got together to celebrate!! Here is a shot of my hubby's family hanging out around the table!!! There are actually a few kids missing from the photo as well as my father-in-law.HINT: Well this person's birthday was actually on Sat. this past weekend, but because I was at the retreat we celebrated early!! GUESS WHO'S 30????

Yep!! My hubby turned the 3-0 this year!!! Isn't he a cutie!!!! I will also celebrate the 3-0 this year but not till Sept.....so I can tease him until then..not really, we don't really put much stock in age around here.....we just keep having FUN!!!

Monday, January 26, 2009

Well for not usually making it a habit to go to Meijer I have been their 3 weeks in a row now!!! It just has worked out in the schedule and I found a short cut way so it only takes me about 20-25 minutes now!!! Well I spent more than I ever had at Meijer this week. With good reason though, I bought a lot of chicken!!! I got 2 of the family size fresh cut boneless skinless chicken breast....they were only 1.69 a pound!!!!! I came home and put it in gallon ziploc freezer bags and it will make 4 meals for us! Also I stumbled across some manger special chicken breast with the rib bone in it....it was 40% off so I paid $2.xx for each of them....also making another 4 meals for us!!! I grabbed some Tillapia Fish as well...not really a good deal ($3.99) but we have had it before and we LOVED it and I thought it sounded like a good changed up in the menu. I also got paper plates, fish crackers, salsa, apples, grapes, chesse, and ziploc bags. All totaling $48. Not a "cheap" week but I spent most of my money on meat (9 meals worth).....so not too bad either.

Menards was good, but I was a little frustrated because they were already out of 4 things that were FREE after REBATE....I thought they should be stocking the shelves a little better when this is only the second day of the sale. Sorry about the ranting...anyway I got 4 picture frames (great gifts to have around), 5 air freshenrs, 2 saw blades, 2 batteries, 3 different cleaning wipes for vechiles, 2 shop cleaning wipes, 2 boxes of 20ct hanging hooks. I also got a 6 pack of sponges that will be $1.99 after $3 rebate..not free but a good bargin...and I go through them. Since you have to buy $10 worth of non rebate items to get the FREE after REBATE items I scored two 5 pound bags of peanuts ( my boys were thrilled about that) for $4.44 each and a $1.29 tea drink...so I only spent $.10 over the $10....I LOVE IT!!! I am thinking this week I should get my first rebate check!!! I hope anyway because this week was the most expensive week for me spending $70, but I know I will be getting almost all of that back (minus $10) in rebates!!!!!!

Well I left the house Friday morning and headed to a place not too far from home....but at this place there was no kids, no men, no cooking, no cleaning, no dishes, no laundry......NO I DIDN'T GO TO HEAVEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! But it sounds like a slice of Heaven, right???

I was invited (and asked to bring a friend) to hostess a women's retreat at Camp Lutherhaven. It is located in the out in the middle of no where and is just a beautiful place for a retreat. 130 women came together with a common top priority for the weekend...TO GLORIFY GOD and highlight was he has done, is doing, and what we hope is will do in each one of our lives. What an honor is was to have the chance to go for FREE because we were willing to help out with some of the retreat details. I feel refreshed, renewed,

inspired, encouraged, and just so glad I went!!

Lynn Ford, from WBCL, was asked to be the keynote speaker of the weekend.....what a neat lady. She was wonderful and transparent about some sin in her past that she has worked through and had to deal with. She gave three wonderful sessions of thought provoking information. Session #1 Who's Knocking At My Door? She gave this great mental picture illustration of God knocking at the door of our heart asking politely to come in...and patiently waiting for us to open the door and invite him in. She said "He will keep knocking quietly, nicely, patiently till the day we die...just waiting for us to open the door."

Lynn also noted that God desires not only to come in but to sit and stay as long as we want Him to. He desires it for two basic reasons.

#1 For HIS Glory!!! #2 For OUR GOOD!!

I love how she stressed this fact, "God isn't limited by ANYTHING except our willingness to give ourselves to Him.

Also she said, "Sinful, broken people can be turned into masterpieces through Jesus. APART from Him that can't happen." I never thought of myself as a masterpiece..Do you think of yourself as a masterpiece???? GOD DOES!!

Lynn's prayer for us was for each of us to say whole heartily "Lord I am willing to be willing." Meaning each one of us was willing to do, change, refine our walk with the Lord and deal with issues in life that can sometimes be messy...being willing to give ourselves completely to God and his purpose for our life.

SESSION #2 KNOWING GOD!!

First,God wants a personal relationship with each one of us. Secondly, He doesn't want us just have the head knowledge of who He is and what He has done. He wants us to really KNOW Him. He wants us to have the attitude of "Give me JESUS". He desires for each one of us to understand and experience the ONE true God. Next, He wants us to be in His word and in His presence. Last, God wants us to "TRUST" our life to Him.

I love how she went on to say that ongoing revival in your heart happens when we are in God's word...how true!! When we experience daily revival we don't wallow in sin.

SESSION #3 Sunday morning devotional

She spoke of Luke 7:11-17 Where this widow is leaving her town in the front of her only son's (only child) funeral procession walking toward the tomb where her son would be put. Lynn explained that the funeral procession would look like this.

Widow (the mother), the the women of the town, then the dead body (widow's son), then the men would follow. It was typical that when someone died that the whole town went to the funeral even if they didn't know the dead person. Lynn thought this town had about 200 or so people. Then, coming towards then is this Man (Jesus) followed by His disciples, then a large crowd. (We aren't told how many but it could have been as many as 1,000- 2,000 people.) So I am sure lots of noise and such and Jesus walks straight to the woman and tells her (really he commands) to stop crying. Then He brought the young boys back to life. Then Jesus presented him back to him mother.

All this illustration to get across to us that Jesus will resurrect in us what we need to make it through any circumstance . Just like the widow Jesus sees us and comes straight to us and comes to our aid...ALWAYS!!!

Here is my sweet friend Joy that went with me to the retreat...What a fantastic time of fellowship for us, anyway from all the distractions of life. Here she is being "crafty" and stamping some pretty cards.....we got to make several and bring them home with us :)

Here I am stamping some cards as well....GREAT fun doing something I love to do.

I would encourage any of you who have the chance to go to something like this to go....Such a very precious time to be surrounded by women who genuinely care for each other and LOVE the Lord....We just had so much fun worshiping the ONE true GOD . Whether through song, quiet time, small group bible study time, or a speaker, we had an indescribable divine appointment with the Lord all weekend......and it doesn't get much better than that, this side of HEAVEN!

Friday, January 23, 2009

Good morning everyone!!!! I hope your week has been a great one and you have some fun things planned for the weekend!!! Well I feel like I need to confess a little something to all my readers.....As some of you may have noticed I didn't post anything yesterday..not even my Bible Study which I like to post everyday if nothing else.My first confession is I made a commitment to God that I would be a better steward of my time and spend more time in His word. So everyday for the last several weeks that had been my #1 priority.My second confession is that I gave my husband my word that I wouldn't let my new hobby, blogging, get in the way of my daily mommy and household responsibilities. Although that sounds easy enough, it hard to stay true to that each day. I find myself staying up to late at night to get my posts ready for the next day or wanting to turn on my computer before I have taken my quiet time. I have found myself tempted to not hold true to my commitments I made to my God, my hubby, or myself.I so far have been fully committed to my quiet time which is something that is very important to me and I am glad to be sticking with it daily. But the bedtime issue had gotten alittle crazy..I find myself at 11 or 1130p finally scooting off to bed, and then throw on top of that a 1 1/2 year old that is getting up every night lately about 3-4 times...which subtracts another 2 hours from my sleep time each night. The end result...a tired grumpy wife and mommy!!!! As a result of not sleeping enough, I find it hard to keep my energy level up inorder to get all things done that I need to AND keep a good ATTITUDE. Keeping a good attitude is also something inportant to me, but something that I have failing at lately.So I just want to let you know that each day I strive to post something ( Monday- Friday anyways), but if I don't then I want you to know that I just couldn't fit it in after all the things I NEED to accomplish first. I love this new hobby of mine, and I want to continue to do it, but I want to be "REAL" with everyone and I want you to help keep me accountable for keeping my priorities in line. In the happenings of life it is so easy to follow those little bunny trails and then at the end of the day wonder why we didn't get anything done...know what I mean???Again today I will not be posting my Genesis study because of other commitments in my life. Please know that even though I won't be posting I have already taken my time with the LORD, and I hope you have to....If not, then shut off your computer and do it now. Don't put off something so important so much that at the end of the day your never took anytime to be quiet before the throne of the SAVIOR .HAVE A BLESSED WEEKEND!!!

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

CHAPTER 37: Joseph had a dream and then reveals it to his brothers.VERSE 7 We were binding sheaves of grain out in the field when suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright, while your sheaves gathered around mine and bowed down to it.

Joseph's brother hated him even more after he told them about his dream and then he had another dream with a similar implications as the first. Joseph's brothers plotted to kill him but one brother objected so they threw him into a pit. Then they decided to sell him as a slave to the Ishmaelites.

CHAPTER 38: Judah, Joseph's brother wanted to try to accumulate wealth by marrying a Canaanite woman. Judah's firstborn was married and then he died, so it was customary for the brother to then sleep with his brother's wife to continue the family line. So Onan was the brother who was told to sleep with his brother's wife. He did this and then he died. So Judah told his daughter-in-law to go back to her father's house until his last son would be old enough for her. ( Judah was being deceitful because he never intended to give his youngest son to Tamar.

Tamar was told that Judah was coming to shear his sheep she changed out of her morning clothes and covered her face with a veil then she waited. When Judah saw her he thought she was a prostitute....and Judah asked for her to come sleep with him. He said he would give her a goat for sleeping with him. She also asked for something to have until the sheep was provided. He gave her his seal and its cord. Later when Judah servants tried to deliver the sheep to "a prostitute" the towns people said there was no such woman here. When people discovered Tamar was pregnant with no husband they said she was a prostitute, Judah said bring her and she will be burned to death. VERSE 25 As she was being brought out, she sent a message to her Father-in-law. "I am pregnant by the man who owns these," she said. And she added, "See if you recognize whose seal and cord and staff these are."She was not killed and gave birth to two sons.

This is a pic of the things that Menards had this week for FREE AFTER REBATE!!! I noticed after I put almost everything away that I forgot to include the 2 boot trays I got also. I got 2 clamp, 2 Rain X, 3 shelf liners, a hammer, a square all FREE. With the rebate the catch is you have to buy $10 in non-rebate items which worked out fine because they have 24pk. of bottles water for $2.99 so I got four to meet me $10 requirement....and we needed some bottles water anyway!!! I think my Hubby is loving this bargain shopping even more since I am stocking up his garage with all sorts of great things!!! I should get back about $23 in rebates!!

I only went to Meijer again this week because I made the trip to Menards again....they are right beside each other so it only makes sense.. I got 8 boxes of cereal (the big boxes!!), 3 boxes of crackers, 2 lunch meat, 1 chip and 1 chip (part of what I am to bring to my in laws house for Justin's birthday celebration), 2 waffles, 2 yogurts ( I had a Meijer coupon for 2 free yogurts), 1 poptart, 2 butters...all together with tax I spent $26.00 (21 items at $26 is $1.23 per item not bad....but I have done better.

Monday, January 19, 2009

CHAPTER 33: Jacob and Esau reunite...As Jacob approached Esau he could see he (Esau) had with him 400 men..So Jacob split up the children of Leah and Rachael. As Jacob got closer to Esau he bowed down SEVEN times ( my footnote said this was an act of total submission). Esau ran to meet Jacob they hugged and wept!! Esau said he didn't need the gifts Jacob had sent ahead of his arrival because he already had what he needed....but Jacob insisted for Esau to accept them so he did.CHAPTER 34: Dinah the daughter of Leah and Jacob decided to go and visit some of the women in this new land. VERSE 2 When Shechem, son of Hamor the Hivite, the ruler of that area saw her, he took her and violated her.VERSE 3 His (Shechem) heart was drawn to Dinah daughter of Jacob, and he loved the girl and spoke tenderly to her.When Jacob and his sons heard of about what had happened they were filled with grief, and fury it says in verse 7. This man had brought disgrace to Jacob's daughter.VERSE 11-12Shechem said to Dinah's father and brothers, "Let me find favor in your eyes, and I will give you whatever you ask. Make the price for the bride and the gift I am to bring as great as you like, and I'll pay whatever you ask me. Only give me the girl as my wife."VERSE15 We will give you our consent to you on one condition only: that you become like us by circumcising all your males. ( This answer was out of the deceit of Jacob's sons...they didn't really intend to follow through with giving away Dinah.)VERSE 25 Three days later, while all of them were still in pain, two of Jacob's sons, Simeon and Levi, Dinah's brothers, took their swords and attacked the inspecting city, killing every male.

I would have probably skipped Walgreens again this week, but I had $10 in RR (Register Rewards to use by the 19th). I thought I would show you what I ended up with. Dawn for .49 each, Orajel, Revlon eyeliner, auto freshener ALL FREE AFTER WALGREENS REBATE, plus I coupons for the Revlon and Orajel so they were MM!!! Justin needed some Mucinex so I got that too. I spent NO money out of pocket because I had my $10 in RR and then a $25 gift card from transferring Justin's monthly perscription!! I still have another $10 left on that as well. Also I should get $23.27 back in rebates and another $8 for an additional mail in Manufacturer rebate on the orajel and yet another Manufacturer $4.99 rebate for the auto freshener!!!!!! Great Money making week at Walgreens!!!

I DID EVEN BETTER THAN I PLANNED AT CVS!!! This is my 1st transaction:

3 bags of chips $9

4 12 packs of pop $12

1 3 pack box of Kleenex $3.69

2 St Ives Lotion $2.99 each2 CVS allergy $3.79 each

2 Children Throat Coolers $4.99 each

1 gallon of milk $2.79

Total was over $50

I used a $10 off CVS coupon, A Buy One Get one coupon for the throat coolers ( they were already free this month so I made money on that), .50 coupon for the Kleenex, $2.00 coupons for each of the St.Ives. Then I also used up some ECB's from earlier this week $30 worth.........Then I paid $1.53 for all 15 items!!!!!! Then if that isn't awesome enough....I got lots of ECB's $2 for the Kleenex, $9.98 for the Coolers, $10 for the Pepsi/ Chip deal ( Plus I am mailing in a "Rebate thing for that which should score me $15 in coupons),$7.58 for the allergy med: TOTALING $19.56 in ECB's

My 2nd Transaction was just as sweet!!! Even Lance gave me a big thumbs up!!

I used another $10 off $50 purchase coupon, $1 off soy joy, $1 off Johnson's, B1G1 Cooler - $4.99, $2 off each of the Nasogels (these were also free this month so I made money on both of them), then I rolled ECB's from the first transaction onto this one (using all of them). My total was $4.46 oop. THEN I GOT $39.98 back in ECB!!!!

I LOVE CVS!!! All together 26 items for about .23 each... then almost $40 to spend in the weeks to come!!!

Friday, January 16, 2009

This is a pic of my Meijer run I made on Monday!!! Since the nearest Meijer to me is about 25-30 minutes away so I don't make it there alot. When I saw the ad matchups this week (which means the sale price on items plus I had coupons for them), I couldn't resist heading to town!! Here is the run down of what I got...3 bags of Chex mix3 cans Ravioli2 bags of Combos12 Yoplait yogurts3 Skippy Peanut butters3 Hamburger Helpers1 box Fiber One Toast Pastry 10 boxes of Green Giant Veggies 4 Betty Crockerpotatoes 6 Pillsbury Dinner Rolls 4 boxes Fiber One cereal 4 boxes of Pizza rollsWhen I finished I think I was around 54-56 items and I spent $30 total!!!!! I did these purchases in two transactions in order to get the most bang for my buck!!!

CHAPTER 31: Verse 17Then Jacob put his children and his wives on camels, and he drove all his livestock ahead of him, along with all the goods he had accumulated in PaddanAram, to go to his father Isaac in the land of Canaan.When Laban discovers that Jacob has left in secret he chases after him. When he catches up to Jacob he asked why he just up and left. VERSE 31"I was afraid, because I thought you would take your daughters away from me by force." After a little confrontation, Laban sent Jacob and his family off to return to home.CHAPTER 32: Jacob was a bit nervous about returning home, he knew Esau would be there waiting. As they got closer to home Jacob sent some herdmans ahead of him and told them that when they met up with Esau to say this VERSE 20"Your servant Jacob is coming behind us."Next we read about Jacob wrestling with GOD. VERSE 26Then the man said, "Let me go, for it is daybreak." But Jacob replied, " I will not let you go unless you bless me."

Thursday, January 15, 2009

CHAPTER 29: Jacob makes it to his uncle Laban's and meets up with him and Racheal as they graze the sheep. He notices Racheal's beauty right away and was taken with her. After talking to Laban ,Jacob agrees to work for 7 years for him in exchange for "his daughters hand in marriage", thinking it would be Rachael. When the 7 years was complete Laban gave Jacob his oldest daughter Leah, saying he could not give away his youngest daughter before the oldest. Upon discovering the deceit he went to Laban and asked for Racheal to be his wife also and Laban agreed to give him Rachael as well after the "honeymoon" week was over. So he took Rachael as his wife and then worked for 7 more years for Laban. As you can imagine, two sisters being married to the same man causes more than its fair share of problems....read the chapter is you want all the juicy details...there are many :)CHAPTER 30: Jacob completed his second round of servanthood to Laban and asked to be sent on his way. Laban convinced Jacob to stay and told Jacob he could "name his own wages". Jacob said he would take every imperfect animal ( with spots or blemishes) of Laban's. Laban agreed to Jacob's request. Jacob once again was not honest with his intentions....though the Lord chose to bless him and increase in flocks and his wealth.

Okay, so I realize that my mid week funny is not so mid week, but here it is anyway!! These pics are from this fall. Lance and Caleb decided they were going to dig for "gold, or Dinosaur bones, or some sort of treasure" and this was the result.

They were just so proud that they had dug a hole so big that they could both sit it...they insisted I take a photo of this amazing accomplishment :) They weren't so thrilled when I informed them that when they were all done digging....they had to fill it back in.......

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

CHAPTER 27: Jacob already conned Esau into goving him his birthright and in this chapter he steals Esau's blessing as well. Prompted by Rebekah, his mother, to decieve his father he went to get two young goats. Rebekah prepared them just like Isaac would want and Jacob took it to him. He was dressed in Esau's clothes so he smelled like him and put the wool of the neck of a sheep on his hands to be hairy like Esau. Isaac gave Jacob the blessing, thinking he was Esau.When Esau returned with his game that he had prepared and went to his father to get the blessing Isaac said he had already given his blessing. Esau was furious!!! Esau was even more heartbroken when he discovered his father could not bless him with anything.

CHAPTER 28: Isaac calls Jacob and commanded him "Do not marry a Canaanite woman. Go at once to Paddan Aram, to the house of your mother's father Bethuel. Take a wife for yourself there, from among the daughters of Laban, your mother bother."On Jacob's journey he had a dream and when he awakes and ponders the dream this is his reaction. VERSE 20: Jacob made a vow, saying, If God will be with me and will watch over me on this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear so that I return safely to my father's house, then the LORD will be my GOD and this stone ( he had under his pillow the night before) that I have set up as a pillar will be God's house, and of all that you give me I will give you a tenth.

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

CHAPTER 25: Abraham dies at the age of 175 years old, and leaves everything he owns to Isaac. But before he dies he gave gifts to all the sons of his concubines and sent them away. In verse 21 it says Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife because she was barren. The Lord answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant.** Then she gave birth to twins, Esau and Jacob. VERSE 27The boys grew up, and Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the open country, while Jacob was a quiet man, staying among the tents.VERSE 28Isaac, who has a taste for wild game, loved Esau, but Rebekah loved Jacob. At the end of the chapter Esau gives away his birthright (which would be his inheritance) to Jacob in exchange for food because he has just returned from the open country and he is starving.CHAPTER 26: Isaac pulled the "she's not my wife" scheme, just like his father had done (twice). Again it did not work, but Isaac did earn more wealth and livestock. The Philistines envied him, and stopped up all his wells so they had no water. Isaac decided to move away to the Valley of Gerer.

Here are a few more things you might want to know about what I do....*At each CVS they have these little machines that spit out coupons for you when you scan your CVS card. You can sometime scan it up to three times in a row on a good day!!! Use these coupons to save even more money!!!** At Kroger and Meijer you can use only two coupons at a time for the same item..Example: If I want to buy 4 or 6 bags of pizza rolls at Meijer (because you can get them free this week:) I will have to do 2 bags at a time....so I will do 2 or 3 transactions....Make sense??***If you shop Kroger and you want to save even more go to http://shortcuts.com/ and then you can upload more coupons onto your Kroger card..It's easy and quick to do. You can now load 50 coupons on at a time!!! These ecoupons are only worth face value, they do not triple. BUT you can use MANUFACTURER coupons, which do triple, plus the KROGER ecoupons and save even more...EXCITING I KNOW!!!****I always find out what the deals of week are from 2 sites. Feel free to check them out each week for the latest deals at Walgreens, CVS, Kroger and Meijer, an NOW MENARDS too.http://dailyessentialsanddeals.blogspot.comhttp://moneysavingmom.typepad.com/***** Last thing for today....make sure you have a good filling system for your coupons!! It is very important to be organized in my opinion. It saves so much time to be able to flip through your coupons and grap the ones you need for the week. For the last three weeks I have been trying to do a better job of cutting out my coupons the day I get them and file them. Makes life easier later :)

Monday, January 12, 2009

CHAPTER 23: Sarah lived to the age of 127, then died at Hebron, in the land of Canaan. So Abraham wanted to bury Sarah, and the Hittites told him he could bury her anywhere he wished. Ephron , the man who owned the cave, refused payment for the land and said for Abraham to bury his dead. After debating over buying the land, Abraham paid 400 shekels of silver to Ephron.CHAPTER 24: Abraham was concerned over Isaac marrying a Canaanite woman. Canaanite's had no clear knowledge of the true and living God. Abraham did not want his people ruined by idolatry. So he made his servant take an oath to find a wife for Isaac in Abraham's country, Nahor. Abraham was very clear on the fact that he did not want Isaac to leave the Promise Land. The Lord had promised him "To your offspring I will give this land." When the servant arrived he asked God to bless with success. He asked for a sign of a maiden who would freely give water to him and his camels. Rebekah did exactly that and the servant asked to stay at her parents home for the night. He explained the whole situation to her family and they said, "This is from the Lord; we can say nothing to you one way or the other. Here is Rebekah; take her and go, and let her become the wife of your master's son, as the Lord has directed. 23:50When the servant and Rebekah returned home she and Isaac married.

Here is our sweet Julia showing off her new baby stroller she got for Christmas... she thought instead of her pushing babies around.....one of her brothers should push her around in it :) I told her mommy didn't think that was a good idea because she was a "big girl" and that the stroller is for little babies...so she just smiled and said "CHEESE!"

What a joy it is to have a GIRL in the house!!!! Even sweeter is the way her brothers adore her, and make a big deal out of the new things she is learning.

Saturday, January 10, 2009

Guess what we did this weekend??? Here are some fun pic to show you all the fun we had!!! Lance started off his fun on his 4 wheeler.

Julia on her first "real" sled ride, with big brother Zach to help keep her safe.

Caleb, Dad, and Zach take the snowmobile for a spin!!

Here is Zach waving at mommy.

Caleb is showing off his angel making skills.

Julia thinks she is BIG stuff as she rides along, Big brother Caleb is pulling her around the yard. She's grinning the whole time!!

Here is the whole GANG together, riding behind the 3 wheeler. Lance (who still hasn't taken his helmet off), Julia, Caleb, and Zach. Great time had by all, and hopefully more snow in the forcast???? While others wish for spring, the GAERTE"S wish for more snow to play in :)

Friday, January 9, 2009

Chapter 21: Well the long awaited promise arrives!!! At the age of 90, which sounds old to us but in Bible times was not old considering people lived 300 years or more, Sarah have birth to a son. I am sure Isaac brought such joy to their hearts...they had waited SOOOO long for him. Sarah catches Ishmael, Isaac's 1/2 brother, mocking Isaac and demands that Ishmael and his mother be banished....Abraham allowed it.After being sent away they almost died of thirst, then the Lord provided them water. He, the Lord, promised to make Ishmael into a great nation. (Just as he had promised to make Isaac into a great nation.)

Chapter 22: Verse 2 is striking to me as a parent.......Then God said, "Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about." Genesis 22:2I just can't even imagine being asked to do such a thing after waiting a life time to have a child. I understand God was testing Abraham's faith, but I don't think I would have been able to obey like Abraham. I also am struck by Abraham's immediate obedience as a response to what God was calling him to do. I think that is so key in our walk with Lord. We demand immediate obedience from our children, so why wouldn't our Heavenly Father expect it from His children. This whole situation ends well in verse 11-12: But the angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven, Abraham! Abraham!" "Here I am," he replied. "Do not lay a hand on the boy," he said. "Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son." What great reminder tous how God rewards us when we obey him which such a willing heart.

Hello Again Mexico!!! Well after we were in Mexico the first time Justin discovered he had won a trip to Mexico and that we would go again in Dec. 2-7.....So here are some pics of our 2nd time around.......GREAT WEATHER every day mid to upper 80's and sunny!

Here is hubby catching some sun and listening to his IPOD. This happened to be our favorite pass time. Laying out, getting some sun, and just plain relaxing. This is the first vacation I ever came home feeling rested....good times!!!

This is a pic of the catamaran we went out on one day..(that is not us in this photo.) A man who worked for he resort took us and brought us back in....no motor just powered by the breezy ocean air...I couldn't believe how fast it went! Lots of fun..

We could walk to this place from our resort and watch people swim with the dolphins. It was cool to check out and it was right in the middle of a shopping area

We enjoyed walking through this marina on the way to see the dolphins and admiring all the boats...there were some fishing boats and then some nicer ones that were strictly for entertaining.

This is a little portion of the beach area...I wish I could have bottled up a little section of it and brought it home with me :)

This is a incredible look at God's creation. We got up early on our last day to read our Bibles on the beach....and then catch every little last bit of warm sun before heading back to the freezing cold midwest.

Another beautiful view of the sun starting to come up! Imagine waking up to that view each morning!

A couple of the nights during our stay there were booths set up in the resort for you to buy things. This man was painting with different spray paints. We are not sure what the flame does to the painting but we enjoyed watching him do his work.

Overall we didn't take as many pics this time around. Mainly because we relaxed alot. Justin played some volleyball and snorkeled a couple days. We rode bikes a couple times, played tennis one day. We just enjoyed all the free stuff the resort had to offer!!

What a great blessing the Lord provided for us and we are thankful for the rare opportunity to get away together as husband and wife.

Thursday, January 8, 2009

CHAPTER 19: The beginning of the chapter is talking of Lot and his visit from the angels. Lot sat at the city gate (indicating he must have held some authority in the city). He offered them everything Abraham had...he convinced them to stay at his house that night because he feared what the men of Sodom would do. When a crowd gathered outside Lot's door that night demanding the men be sent out for sexual abuse, Lot refused (as a host it was his job to protect the men). I guess he took that pretty seriously because he offered the crowd his two virgin daughters instead...CAN YOU IMAGINE????? WHAT WAS HE THINKING????? What were his two daughters thinking when they heard him say this????

The angel informed Lot of the upcoming disaster...Lot tried to convince his future sons-in-laws, but they didn't believe him....no one did. So he left with only his wife and two daughters. The angels had also given the family orders, they were to flee without stopping and not look back. When Lot reached the city of Zoar (the fifth city of the plain, and the only city spared from the disaster) God destroyed the cities of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim. Burning sulfur fell on the cities.

The part we all usually remember most of this story is Lot's wife being turned to a pillar of salt. Her disobedience and curiosity should be a warning to us that we need to separate ourselves from the world with obedience to God.

The end of the chapter is a bit disturbing for me to think about...Lot laying with his daughters in order to preserve their family line...they both had sons.

CHAPTER 20: Again Abraham claims Sarah is his sister...again he is found out...again he is asked why he lied....again they leave the city with more wealth.......

NOW THE STAGE IS SET FOR THE LORD TO PROVIDE ISAAC, THE PROMISED AND LONG AWAITED COVENANT!!!

I have had several people ask me how in the world do I get all my groceries for a family of 6 on a $200 a month grocery budget......so I will do my best to explain how it has worked for me...

BACKGROUND INFO: A cousin, Megan, sparked me onto this whole "COUPON CRAZINESS" which is what my husband usually refers to it as. (Don't get me wrong he's not complaining about me slashing the grocery budget. He just thinks all the rules and how the game works is MIND BOGGLING). So she, Megan, explained the method a bit to me and said go to http://moneysavingmom.typepad.com/ and she will explain it all more...so I did and then I printed off the booklet ($9.95, I think I had to pay to print it). I read through it and then read through it again, and then I asked Megan probably a million questions!!!

THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW BEFORE YOU START COUPONING!!!!!

1. You will not cut you grocery bill in half the first, second, third , or even fourth month......it took me six. You may never cut it in half depending on your situation, but I do know you can knock off a good chunk of money your spending!!

2. I get my coupons fby getting one FW Sunday paper and two CHICAGO papers each week....Chicago papers are not available anywhere around Busco or Col. City that I know of, and you can't subscribe to the paper (unless you want to pay $4.55 per paper and even then I am not sure you would actually get one). Megan lives in LaGrange, she can get papers there. So she picks them up each Sunday and then gives then to Justin's parents at church and of course they then give them to me. Chicago papers run about 2.50 per paper (so I spend about $25 a month). My FW paper is $1.25 a week I think. They more than pay for themselves every month!! The thing about Chicago papers....they have way more coupons in them than the FW paper.

3. It takes awhile to stock pile all your coupons. The point being to have duplicate coupons to use those on the items when they go on sale. SALE PRICE - COUPON = FREE or NEARLY FREE STUFF. You want to be able to buy more than just one..so you can stockpile.

4. Here are the stores I shop at CVS, WALGREENS, MEIJER (not to often because I have to justify the gas and time and all), KROGER, and ALDI.

5. Each week CVS and Walgreens will run deals on items that you can get free. At CVS they might say buy Dawn for .99 and then get .99 ECB. ECB's are your friend!!! Basically it is cash to spend. At first you will spend money out of your pocket to buy these things, in order to build up your ECB's . The general idea is to spend those ECB on items that will replenish the ones you spent. At Walgreens the same concept is true, they call their rewards Register Rewards.

6. Krogers in our region TRIPLE coupons up to and including .50 coupons (so your .50 coupon is really a $1.50 coupon). Meijer doubles up to and including .50 coupons. So every week you would look for the sale items (10/$10 things especially) and then use your coupons to get them free. When those items go on sale you stock pile and slowly build up your pantry. (That is the reason you want more than one coupon, that is also why I get 3 papers.)

7. Anything that I don't get for free, I usually can get at ALDI.

8. If you are brand sensitive on things you might not find couponing as beneficial as our family does. I am only picky on a few things..detergent, peanut butter and that's really it.

9.Your pantry will not be stockpiled full immediately. But it also won't take to long, maybe a couple months.

10. It does require some time commitment..cutting out coupons and filing them. ( I use a binder with a zipper, and bought plastic baseball card inserts (9 count) and then label for each category.) I also look up what the upcoming deals are on Hot Coupon World each week then print it off and that saves me time..then I can know which coupons to pull...then check the ad on Sunday (for CVS, Walgreens, Meijer), or Thursday for Kroger and see what other thing I want to get that week.If you would like to check out http://hotcouponworld.com/ click on the link and then scroll down to DRUG STORES (to check CVS and walgreens), then scroll to CVS hot deals, or Walgreens hot deals (which ever you are checking). Then you scroll down again until you find the weekly sales you want to view...They usually show about 2 weeks in advance what the upcoming sales will be. To check out Kroger or Meijer look on this same site EXCEPT go to GROCERY STORES instead of drug stores....just be aware that some of the sales might be regional so check carefully.

11. I spent lots of time at the beginning getting used to everything and looking online alot. Now I don't take much time at all..

12. I do not use many printable online coupons...I do use some if I see on some blog, or moneysavingmom that you can print a coupon on a sale item that I don't have a Manufacturer coupon for.

Well I think that is enough info for today...I don't want to overload you in one day!!! I know it can be alot to absorb in one day!! If you have questions just leave a comment, email, or call me. I will post more on "coupon craziness" next week!

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Chapter 17: Thirteen years had now passed since the birth of Ishmael, and Abram was 99 years old, and still no baby.....The Lord appeared again to Abram confirming His , telling Abram he should walk before Him and "be blameless". Then God required a covenant sign (covenant literally mean "to cut"). In 17:11 You are to undergo circumcision, and it will be the sign of the covenant between you and me.In this chapter Abram's name in now changed to Abraham "father of many". Sarai's name was changed to Sarah "a princess", because of her role in mothering all those to come.

My study book had some great things to say............Sometimes we take a wrong turn in life, as Abraham did when he decided to produce an heir on his own. But once we learn about our mistake, we cannot be too quick to reverse direction and begin obeying God with a better understanding. He is always pleased to accept those who repent and turn toward Him.Chapter 18:This chapter tells us about when three "figures" appeared to Abraham "in the heat of the day". My study book says traditionally people rested during this time and waited for the sun to go down. These "men" left us some clues that they were not ordinary men.#1 They called Sarah by her name yet Abraham had no mentioned her in conversation at that point.#2 When the Lord (which they (scholars) think was one of these "men") told of the upcoming birth to a son. Sarah was about 99 years old at this time.#3 The Lord revealed that He knew what was going on in Sarah's mind.

After the three visited with Abraham they had one more thing to take care of...judgement on some wicked cities.The Lord said, " The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous that I will go down and see of what they have done is as bad as the outcry that had reached me. If not, I will know. Genesis 18: 20-21

God shared with Abraham what his plan was. Then God allowed Abraham's relatives to escape. Abraham begs for the innocent to be spared.....Interceding for them.Ezekiel 33:11 says "As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their wicked ways and live." Any thoughts from you all???

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

HAPPY WEDNESDAY!!! Well many of you know that since June 08' I have been caught up in this coupon CRAZINESS!!! Well since I always love hearing about BARGAINS I thought I would join the all other NUTS-O people posting their grocery pics :)

This is what I hauled home from Walgreens Monday night!! I got 2 Robitussin's (one came with a Pediatric Robitussin for free), 2 Children's Dimetapp, 4 Smuckers squeeze jellies, 1 Shampoo, and 1 Conditioner, 2 Glade Candles, and at the bottom real little is 2 Maybelline Lip glosses.

Starting with the MEDS they were each $6. Then I had a $1 off MQ (Manuf. Coupon) making my total with MEDS $20 then if spent $20 on these meds you got $10 back in RR (Register Rewards, which spend like cash on your next visit or your next transaction.) The Smucker jelly was on sale this week for 1.79 or so then I had 4 MQ's also..some Q's were .35 some .25...anyway less than 1.50 for each. The shampoo and conditioner were on sale for .99 with in store monthly book and then I had 2 $1 MQ making them FREE!!! The Glade candle were 2 for $5 then you do the mail-in rebate (i do mine online....SOOOOO easy to do) for $3 off making them $1.00 each..plus I had 2 $1 MQ MAKING THEM FREE also :) Well Lip gloss was on sale B1G1 (Buy one get one) 50% off. They were 8.99 so the second was 4.50 then I had two $4 MQ making them about $5 for both. SO my total was $28 for everything plus 2.XX in tax! PLUS I got $10 RR meaning $20 was my total!!

My CVS run was way better!!!!! CVS calls their "free money" ECB's. They were running a special that when you buy any CVS product get one 50% off. So the paper towels were 1.99 then the other was .99, milk (I got three) was 2.79. (I could have gotten it at Walgreen for 2.49 but I got it free with ECB at CVS) I got 2 All detergents 7.49 I think and I had a .40 Q. I got FREE after my coupon Shampoo again :) I got Huggies wiped for 1.49 after Q, then cottonelle moist wipes for 1.XX. soft soap .49, Then I hit the 75% off isle!!! They haven't had one for a while now since they had it full of holiday stuff.....but I always find goodies here. I scored Ocean Spray juice for a little more than $1. I got some gingerbread cookies for nothing along with some jolly rancher flavored candy canes, and some little candy things for BRIBERY TOOLS (I mean rewards....)

When all was said and done I spend 2.XX out of pocket!!! REMEMBER I HAD ECB (free money) to use up....AND I still went home with some ECB's to use next week!!! I LOVE CVS!!!!

Well if all this sound good to you and you want to know how to do the same thing I do, then you can go to http://moneysavingmom.typepad.com/ and look at the sections marked CVS 101, and Walgreens 101, and then you can shoot any questions my way that you have.....

I have been doing this couponing thing since June 08' and I have now cut our grocery bill in 1/2 each month!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That's huge.....And I already thought I was doing pretty good at $400 a month.....but HEY i will take $200.00!!!!!

Chapter 15: Lots of great DRAMA going on in this chapter!!! First Abram has a vision where the Lord speaks to him and says "Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward."

Can you even begin to imagine this happening to you???!!! The Lord promising you in person that he will protect and that HE is your reward!!!! WOW!! I guess the whole vastness of that promise is not totally understood by Abram.The Lord once again affirms his promise to Abram that his offspring will number many. I think Abram's patience must have been running out.....can you blame the man??? The first promise of children was made when you was 75 years old. Now we see in chapter 16 that he is 85 when Hagar becomes pregnant and 86 when she delivers Ishmael.I think of what an interesting conversation that must have been when Sarai was insisting that he sleep with another woman so that he would have children of his own. I also think it's funny how this was his wife's, Sarai's idea yet she then turned on Hagar and treated he badly once she was pregnant.

Sounds like some of the drama you can find on pretty much any TV station during the day....bad comparison I know, but things sure weren't boring :)

THE FOLLOWING IS WHAT I PRESENTED ON SUNDAY TO OUR CHURCH OF ABOUT 500 PEOPLE.

GOOD MORNING> I am here this morning to share with you my testimony. When Pastor Terry first asked me I thought, “He must be crazy!” “I couldn’t speak in front of all those people.” Then my second thought was “How could I not speak in front of all those people and share what my wonderful Savior has done in my life.My given name is Danielle Marie Byrd born on September 18th, 1979 in Fort Wayne, Indiana. On that day I was born into the family of Terry and Carolyn Byrd as their oldest daughter. I have a sister Christa who was born three years later. I grew up in Green Center area on a horse farm where I started riding horses as early as I can remember. Horses were my life and everything we did as a family related to horses. Rodeos, open shows, 4-H, I did them all growing up. Some of my fondest memories are from those times we spent together as a family every weekend.I grew up in a very supportive home with parents that instilled a strong work ethic, manners, and respect for others. Our family did not attend church, but I remember going to Awana several times at a church in Churubusco. I remember very clearly the act of giving my heart to Jesus at Awana one Wednesday night. Though I had uttered the words of salvation, I had no knowledge of what I was to do next. So my true walk with the Lord did not yet begin.Moving on to the high school years, I attended Churubusco High School. I was a good student on the honor roll, played sports, had lots of friends, was on the prom court. I remember knowing that some of the choices I was making throughout those years were not the right ones. However, several of my friends who did attend church and youth groups were also making those same choices. I thought that the reason my parents were telling me not to do certain things was just because they wanted to be in control of my life. I justified my choices by what others around me were doing. I thought if it was good enough for them, it was okay for me. At least that’s what I thought at the time. What I wouldn’t realize until several years later is that some of those wrong choices would later lead to great anguish and heartbreak. And they did, once I learned the true reasons they were wrong.In the fall of 98’ after only 5 months of dating I was engaged to my sweet husband, Justin. Though our dating time was short, our engagement lasted a year and a half while I finished getting my degree. It was about 6 months before our wedding that I recommitted my life to the Lord, and began to grow in my walk. For the next two years Justin and I attended a Bible study for 2-4 hours each Tuesday night. Each week we would be challenged to read a certain number of verses and write a little report on what we learned from those verses. It was a great time of growth, and encouragement as we saw ourselves and many people around us really growing in the Lord.A year and a half after we were married we celebrated the birth of our first son Lance. After that would follow Caleb then Zach. Just two weeks after Zach’s 1st birthday I discovered I was pregnant with our 4th child. We were very excited and had only known for 2 days, yet we hadn’t told anyone. An ambulance had to be called to our home because I was in so much pain. My right leg had been hurting all morning and I thought is was just some kind of tense muscle pain. All morning the pain had been getting worse and I remember thinking, “if I just lay all the kids down for their naps, I will lay down and rest and I am sure that I will be fine.” After laying everyone down, I went downstairs and as I reached the bottom of the stairs I was in an unspeakable amount pain. Jumping ahead to the end of the story I had emergency surgery because the doctors discovered I was having a Tubal pregnancy. After the heartbreaking news that I was loosing our baby I was so excited to be pregnant with I was devastated. For the next week I had people at the house taking care of me and my family because of my limitations from surgery. I don’t remember a lot from the weeks that followed, I went into a depression state of mind. I felt so utterly helpless and ashamed that I couldn’t do anything to save our baby. I remember thinking I didn’t even want to pray. I got so many beautiful cards from some of you sitting right here, letting me know you were praying for me and that God would carry me through this hard time, but I was numb and the words just bounced right off. I tried to assure myself that I had 3 great boys to celebrate, but at that time it just wasn’t enough to pull me out of that state of mind I was in. I thought I was never going to be happy again, and it felt as though God didn’t really care about me. Although inside I felt those things I knew in my head that those thoughts were not true…I learned during this painful time to take comfort in scripture even if I didn’t “feel” like it. Joshua 1:5 reads “I will never leave you nor forsake you”. I had full assurance the Lord would restore me in all ways but I still had to work my way back to Him….. It was a process. I knew I was in the middle of a spiritual battle and I could literally feel it. The devil was throwing all kinds of lies at me that he wanted me to believe so that I would abandon my faith. God was trying to ease my pain but I wasn’t fully willing to let Him. After all was said and done, God did continue to show His love to me and He did restore my heart, and I was brought out of that dark time. Now, looking back on it, I am thankful for what God taught me in the midst of so much pain. He taught me that His ways are always perfect, and I don’t need to understand them. His love is enough to get me through anything, and He will never leave me, He will be there fighting for me as I struggle through hard spiritual battles. I am so thankful for His faithfulness and patience with me.Just a few months later, not only had God restored me physically but He was continuing to work in my heart spiritually. As if that wasn’t already enough He also chose to bless us with our precious Julia. What a sweet addition she has been to our whole family.Even though God was richly blessing me during this exciting time in my life, I had drifted away from spending my daily quiet time with Him. I had continued to use the excuse “I just didn’t have enough time in the day“, or “I was just too tired.” So when Justin and I went away earlier this year, I had decided this was the time I was going to get back on track with my quiet time. Well unfortunately that didn’t happen. Instead I came home with some kind of flu, and disappointment over failing once again to get back on track.When I returned I felt God really convicting me over my not being “real” with Him on why I wasn’t spending time with Him in His word. I knew in my heart what the “real” issue was, but didn’t want to admit it to myself or anyone else for that matter. The real issue: LAZINESS! When I said those very words out loud to Him, admitting that I was not putting Him first in my daily walk; that realization was heartbreaking for me. After all he’s done for me, I was failing to make my time with Him a top priority. Once I admitted the truth to God, my being luke-warm about spending time together could not be good enough, my good intentions would not be good enough, and my excuses would no longer be acceptable. It was my deepest desire to make the time to sit at His feet and worship Him. It’s still a daily choice that I have to be committed to, daily dieing to myself, and my selfishness of wanting to use God’s time my way. I share this struggle of mine with you, because I know many of you battle with the same problem. It struck me the other day that I am constantly telling my children that actions speak louder than words. I will tell them, “Don’t just tell me you will obey the first time. Show me.” I know the same principle applies to us…We can’t just tell God we love him with all our hearts and treasure Him above all things and then not follow through with action to back it up. You can’t tell someone you love them and treasure them and then not talk or spend time with them…the same is true with God. We have to show Him that He is worth our spending quality time with Him and we must make the effort to develop an intimate relationship with Him. We can only accomplish this by taking the time to daily sit at His feet.In closing I need to express my gratitude to this church and it’s pastors for bringing to my attention the hard issues that need to be dealt with in my walk with the Lord. I am thankful for the convicting questions and lessons taught here each week. I am also thankful for the friends he has brought into my life at just the right times. I am thankful for an amazing husband who loves me unconditionally with all his heart and shows it through his thoughtful actions. I am thankful for his gentle rebuke when he sees something in my life that needs to be addressed. Most of all, I am thankful for a mighty and overcoming God that gives me endless grace and compassion that I do not deserve. I am thankful for a God that truly forgives all the sin in my life past and present. I am thankful for the knowledge He has given me through His word. He has used that knowledge to change my hearts desires. My desire is to be honest with my children as they grow up and give them the knowledge I once lacked. So that they can make choices that will glorify the Lord and be a witness to others.I am grateful for my salvation. I am grateful to be called a child of God. I am grateful for his unconditional love for me.

Monday, January 5, 2009

Chapter 13 talks about Abram and Lot separating because the land and water supply could no longer support the herds of cattle from both men. So Abram let Lot choose whatever direction he wanted to go first. Then Abram waited for the Lord's leading on which direction he should go. Abram was a very wealthy man at this point, but still a nomad.

After Lot parted, God repeated the promise he had already made Abram. "Abram decedents would one day claim the whole land of Canaan. His offspring would be like the dust of the earth in number."

Chapter 14: Shows us the first consequence of Lot choosing to settle so close to Sodom (the men of Sodom were very wicked). He was taken captive as the Kings in the area went to war with each other. After Abram got word that Lot had been captured Abram organized his 318 trained men and went looking for Lot. When they found them they took at the goods, Lot, and all the women and children and other people. After returning Abram had two different offers from Kings to receive goods as a thank you for what he had done. Abram would only accept the food his men had already eaten and then offered a tithe of 10%. He didn't want anyone to be able to take credit for providing him his great wealth. He only wanted God to get the glory, for the things which he had been blessed.

Here are some pics from our first trip to Mexico!!! Justin and Bob wanted to stop and listen everytime these guys broke out the instruments!

This is what we saw when we pulled into our resort...Grand Bahia Prinicipe Resort

Lots of pools, we were surprised that they were all wading pools. The deepest we could find was 3.5 feet deep. We spent most of our time on the beach.

You can't see it in this pic but there is a coral reef wrapped in some sort of burlap that Bob and Justin are standing on. It was really slippery, and took them a good 1/2 hour to conquer the task of getting up on it. They had a lot of fun messing around climbing them!

This is one of about 8,000 natural cold springs in Mexico. We visited this site after seeing the Mayan Ruins. You could take a dip in it if you wanted, everyone chose not to, except me!! The water was chilly but not to bad and was 150 feet DEEP!!!! All kinds of little pretty fish were also swimming all around. I did it only because I knew I would NEVER normally do something like this and I might never get the chance to do anything like it again.

We took a day trip to the ruins, about a 2 1/2 hour trip from our resort. It tool an entire day to travel there, tour it go to the spring, eat at Mexicanrestaurant, and then travel home. It was amazing to see all the work the Mayan people had did so many years ago.....

One of the nights there was a MEXICAN FIESTA. We scored some free tickets, so we went. I think it was the best thing we did on trip!! They started out with authentic dancing ceremonies, and had all kinds of the entertainment throughout the whole show. Really cool to see!!!

We ate out at several different "fancy" restaurants while we were there. This night was a Japanese Restaurant. I had never been to a restaurant like this...great fun! The food was SOOOO good too.

I thought it would fun to share some our pics from our trips to Mexico...yes I said TRIPS!! Let me explain myself a bit. TRIP #1: One of Justin's co-workers told Justin about an incredible deal he got on a trip to Mexico. So since we couldn't even remember the last time we had been away as a couple we decided to go for it! While we were discussing going on this trip Janelle and Bob (Justin's sister and her husband) said they might be in on going if we were serious. So when all was said and done, all four of us left on Oct. 1st bound for Mexico for 5 days of no kids, and no schedule, and no responsibilities!!! So enjoy some pictures of nice warm weather, since we know we won't have any of that here for a long time!!!!